Gold Coast Primary and Pre-prep help!

Hi! I am a mom of two boys aged 6 and 3. We are moving to the GC from the USA in June. I have been desperately been trying to find info on good schools as I will be coming to look for schools in February. Currently both boys are in a Montessori School in the states. I just want the best schooling possible for the boys, of course, but we are open to moving to whereever we need to be to do that.

I have heard that unlike here, it is very very hard to get into private school. Obviously, since we just found out we are moving we are not down on any waiting lists. Is there any possibility my older son (who will be 7 in May) would get in either mid 2012 or Jan 2013? Do you know anything about any of the schools below? Or any others? Any recommendations at all? We are completely clueless and appreciate any help.

AB Paterson
Mudgeeraba State School
Highland Reserve State School (Upper Coomera)
Somerset
Coomera Springs: AA on most
Varsity College
Pacific Pines State School ,
Queensland Independent School
Ashmore State School

Hi there! I'm a GC girl born and bred! Where are you moving from? As for Gold Coast schools there are so many good ones depending what suburb you are living in. From your list you seem to be looking at northern end??? AB Paterson is a wonderful school as are many on your list. There are also many many good Christian schools on the coast though you didn't mention if you were interested in these? I'm a teacher in primary school as well! Honestly I don't think you will have a problem unless you're looking at some more expensive private schools. Do you know which area you would be moving too?

Coomera Springs is one of the best state schools I've seen here. But Coomera isn't that great to live, it's miles away from everything with a high crime rate. I know a few families who drive 20 minutes to drop their kids there though.

My partners godmother works at AB Patterson and she highly recommends it (obviously). I have heard great things about it though although it's hard to get into, particularly in early years or high school-ish age.

Assisi is at Coomera too and although it's Catholic it's a fantastic school.

Also if you live within the catchment area for a state school, you'll get in so you won't have to worry too much there but I'd definitely put your name on waiting lists for the private schools.

PS - Coomera SS has great facilities and staff and the children I've dealt with from there were quite pleasant. I've used their hall a few times for various things.

Thanks so much!

Thank you SO much for your replies. I really appreciate it! We are moving from the east coast of the USA, North Carolina to be exact. We are excited, and have not yet chosen a place to live. Is there anywhere you recommend? We will be working in Southport, so ideally we would like to live somewhere near there, but are not opposed to living further out to get good schools. I know with private it does not matter, but obviously for state schools, it does, right? This is all a new system to me so any info is very much appreciated. The boys have been in Montessori since they were 18 months, but I know we have to switch our older son (who will be 7 when we move) at some point since Montessori High Schools are not very common. But, I guess we may keep the younger one (who turns 4 in July) in Montessori for the next year or so. So any info on where to live or schools is great! Are there any great suburbs?

Hi! How exciting that you're moving here. It's an awesome place to live!

Queensland Independent College is Montessori- based. It looks like a fantastic school. I'm 95% sure we'll be sending our kids there. It's in Merrimac, which is pretty central. Getting to Southport from there in peak hour is a bit of a nightmare though. It might take at least 30 minutes to get to work.

Varsity College has a very good name among the state schools. Robina (the suburb adjoining Varsity Lakes) is a very nice suburb- heaps of families live there.

Benowa State School is great. I went there for all of my schooling and grew up in Benowa and loved it. It's a lot closer to Southport than any of the other schools you've mentioned.

Will try to check back in later and write more. Feel free to PM me if you like.

Totally depends on your budget and what you find as acceptable as a commute to work.

I prefer southern end of gold coast, as mentioned, robina... Varsity lakes... Mudgeeraba (biased on mudgeeraba because I live there!).

If you have more specific details about your budget etc for houses/schools and things you could message or post here. Also looking on realestate.com.au and searching those suburbs will give you an idea of costs and locations. You could then think about which area you might like to investigate for schools. 😄

Thanks so much! We are not necessarily trying to concentrate on up North by any means, it just seemed closer to Southport. I built the list primarily on what I could scrounge up online and NAPLAN scores, but I am open to whatever. My husband is not really a huge fan of religious based schools which is why those listed are not that way.

It is a shame that Coomera Springs is a great school but Coomera is not a great place to live. Safety is def. important to us. But, if you live outside the catchment area, can you still get in there?

I think the Varsity Lakes/Mudgeeraba/Robina area looks nice for us, but I heard it is a commute to Southport. We have some flexibility in when we come into work. So, we can try to come in on off-peak hours. Does anyone have an idea of about how long the commute is. Ideally, my husband would like to commute by bike, but as I mentioned being in a place where schools are great for the kids is more important. It sounds like that may only be possible in Pac Pines, or if they got into AB Paterson, but since it does not sound like Pac Pines is that great and AB Paterson is hard to get into, I am not sure the bike commuting will work out (which is fine).

Also Queensland Independent School seems really great! But, I have seen some things online about it closing in 2009, and then reopening. Is it a new school now? Is it hard to get into as well?

Actually my husband is Anglican, but did not know there were any Anglican schools there (there are not many here, most religious based schools are Catholic). So, if there are any non-denominational or Anglican schools, we are very open to those, too!

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